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{
    "id": 620247,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/620247/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 408,
    "type": "other",
    "speaker_name": "",
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    "speaker": null,
    "content": "advertising business is given out, those growing in the sector should be given an opportunity. A law has been passed both in the National Assembly and the Senate that 30 per cent should go to youth and women. They should benefit from the park benches advertisements too. Since they have not understood how to override the others who have dominated the business, they should be given a chance. We have worked for three years in this House and we have seen what is happening in counties. We shall save Kenyans from the entire hullabaloo we have witnessed in the counties. Today, if we do not go to our counties, people will forget us and it is a fact that many Senators, if they joke, they will be rejected. I hope we can change that narrative. The governors have perfected the narrative through outdoor advertisement. A governor makes sure that he advertises himself either verbally, through a billboard, in a vehicle or through a boda boda wearing a jacket and all these are advertisements. We should help Kenyans to come back to sanity and understand that advertisements are not just meant for the governor but the whole county to help it build its economy. Unless we put laws in place, it will be very difficult for Kenyans at the grassroots to understand that advertisement is also part of collecting revenue. Mr. Temporary Speaker, to ensure maintenance of billboards, we need to ask ourselves – as my Leader said – if we need to give a timeframe, because somebody could decide that they have the money. Therefore, you will be seeing their billboards for the whole year because they have the money. Therefore, nobody should question why their billboard is there. Even if you give the person the leeway to renew before expiry, then, we need to also have---, especially if it is an individual on the billboard. However, if it is the county, then, that is a different thing. A county assembly can give an approval that it still needs a certain billboard because of certain reasons. We must ask ourselves questions if we see billboards with pictures of certain individuals, for example, a governor. When you enter Kakamega County, you will see a billboard welcoming you to the county. Six months later, I still see the same billboard. If you conduct an inquiry, you will find that the governor does not even pay for the billboard. Those are some of the issues we need to put into consideration, to ensure that many other things are advertised. Therefore, we should put in place measures to ensure that an advertisement on a billboard does not exceed six months. Another advertisement should be put on the billboard after six months. Thereafter, an earlier advertisement could be put up again. We must also ensure we put in place measures regarding advertisements in the parks within the counties. When you visit many parks in the counties, you will find many advertisements of governors. When you are seated in a park – because that is the only place where people go to relax – the only things you will be reading are advertisements of the governor and the executive. We must also safeguard our parks because they are not just for governors but for the people belonging to the county. Parks are public land for people to go and relax. We should also put measures in place to ensure that only adverts concerning the county are put on billboards. Therefore, water or something that is viable for the county should be advertised. We should safeguard parks in order to make counties generate revenue from them. When I want to feel our culture, let me feel it in the park knowing that, it is our culture and, therefore, what we believe in. We should have such measures put in place. The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposes"
}